Last Week…

Dad was a nervous about making the plunge. What if it all fell apart and he didn’t have a job? But he felt the Lord’s calling strongly, so he made the leap of faith. At the next business meeting when all of the employers and employees sat around and discussed their hopes and plans for the coming year they got to Dad and asked him what his dreams were.
Dad cringed a little in his seat. “Um, well I’d like to become a full time farmer.”

Continued…

To his surprise his employers showed a great interest in his plan.
“How can we help you fulfill that dream?” they asked.
Dad was amazed at this reception and it confirmed his assurance that the Lord was calling him to make the plunge and come home.
His employer graciously worked with Dad on a plan for him to taper off on his work schedule for the duration of a year and then reconvene at the end of that time to kind of see where we were and go form there.
When Dad got home that evening we rejoiced greatly in the Lord’s provision! He had smoothed and prepared the way before us.
The Lord grew our business so much that season that Dad didn’t finish out the year at his office because we needed him at home to help run the farm which was bursting at the seams!
I remember the evening Dad drove home from work for the last time. We were all gathered out in front yard with welcome home signs and cheered as he came into the driveway.
In the five years since we had moved out to the farm, the Lord had grown our dream into a reality! We were all together, doing what we loved as a family! It has been seven years since that day, though it seems like forever. People ask if I love farming, and always reply, yes, I do! But the thing I love most about the agrarian lifestyle is that we can work together as a family team. The years have been tough at times, but inexpressibly sweet and I can honestly say that I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

Today we had some folks over after church for a little old fashioned “visiting”‘. Once milking time rolled around the visitors followed us outside to help milk the cows. It was a young mom with two small daughters, three and one years old. We took turns holding the youngest and somebody decided to put her in the big sink and let her splash around in the tiny bit of water that was in the bottom of the tub. That little baby’s face lit up like it was the most fun thing in the world! She giggled, grasping at the sparkling rivulet of water as it came out of the faucet and squealed with fascination as it slipped through her hands. It kept her occupied for many minutes and she never seemed to tire of her simple pass-time. As I watched her face I marveled at how little it took to please her. Something as simple as water running over her hands and splashing on her face made her smile. It really is amazing at the simple things that please little ones. It’s when we grow up and think we need all our gizmos and gadgets that we become dissatisfied with the simple pleasures of life. Society has come a long way in the past 100 years, even in the past ten years, technology has exploded! There are many, many benefits we have received from them too. My hope is that we will take care not to become so enamored with the glitter and glitz that we forget to appreciate the simple joys of everyday life.

We moved to the farm in March of 2003. We weren’t farmers before that time, it was an all-new adventure for us! We moved from our 1400 square foot house in Chesapeake, VA to 25 acres in Suffolk, Va. Compared to our two car length backyard, 25 acres was enormous!

What prompted the life change, you might be wondering. Well, back in the late 90s, we were considered a large family by most standards with 6 children. Dad had a day job as a computer software trainer while Mom homeschooled us kids. (No small feat!) We had recently gotten into eating more healthily due to health issues that had cropped up among the children, asthma like symptoms, ear infections, etc. Local and organic were not the bywords back then, and it was hard to source cleaner food. Once Mom started changing our diets we were amazed to see the health issues clear up! That sold us on eating naturally. Around the same time, Dad began to feel the call from the Lord to come home from his day job and do something that could involve the whole family. He wanted his family to be able to see him at his best work during the day, not just when he was tired and wanting to kick back and relax in the evenings. Also he wanted to be able to be more involved in our lives.

Farming seemed like a good way to merge the two desires. After much prayer and research (and patient waiting!) we eventually purchased and moved to the farm in 2003 to start a new chapter in our lives! We started small; a few chickens and rabbits, and then gradually scaled up to where we were ready to be self-sustaining in 2008. Dad was still working at his day job up to this point and late 2007 he began to feel that the Lord was calling him leave his day job and work the farm farm time. The Lord had blessed out efforts so much so that we had reached the point where we couldn’t grow
further unless Dad came home.

Dad was a nervous about making the plunge. What if it all fell apart and he didn’t have a job? But he felt the Lord’s calling strongly, so he made the leap of faith. At the next business meeting when all of the employers and employees sat around and discussed their hopes and plans for the coming year they got to Dad and asked him what his dreams were.

Dad cringed a little in his seat. “Um, well I’d like to become a full time farmer.”

One good thing about being in the farming business is that you generally know the other farmers in your area and can swap advice or borrow equipment. We recently acquired a bull, on lend, from a fellow farmer for the purpose of breeding a few new heifers. Well, the bull, appropriately named, “Dude”, has been happy with his new friends and surroundings. He is kept in a “bull proof” pen for safety. Well one day it fell into my chore list to help hay the heifers and their bull friend. Maddie, my chore partner admonished me to wear boots several times. “It’s really muddy from the recent rain.” she said.
I was doing something else and only half listening. “Sure.” I mumbled.
I was completing my previous task as Maddie came back down the hallway before heading outside.
“Don’t forget boots,” she reminded.
I finished up what I was doing and headed outside, still wearing my crocs. I decided to risk the mud because I didn’t want to pause to look for socks. (When you live in a large family, socks are in high demand and can be hard to come by.)
Maddie and I loaded up the wheel barrel with a few bales and trekked across the pasture with our load.
As we neared the pen I noticed the mud she was talking about.
“How about I throw them over the fence to you?” I suggested with a mischievous twinkle. “I didn’t wear my boots.”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “I told you…”
“Okay fine,” she finished with a grin. “But you have to pull me out if the bull gets me.”
(It’s a running joke between us that the bull is wild. He’s really quite tame, however when a bull has heifers to protect…You never know.)
She grabbed a fence stake and let herself in by the gate. I climbed up on the wheel barrel and prepared to toss the hay bales in.
Maddie spoke gently to the bull as he came over to have a looksee at the proceedings. He stood protectively by one of the heifers and tossed his head, showing off his nice pair of horns.
“No sir!” Maddie admonished, pointing her stick at him. He just blinked and stood placidly by.
I laughed and threw the bales over the fence and Maddie tossed them into the hay ring. Once the cows saw the hay they gathered around the ring and began to eat greedily and didn’t pay any more attention to us. That was our bit of adventure for the day.
-Morgan